Huawei CFO Makes Final Push Against U.S. Extradition
Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou is reportedly making a final push against U.S. extradition, paralleling criminal cases against Canadian nationals in China.
Meng Wanzhou’s defense lawyers argued that allowing her to face charges in New York would encourage improper demands by U.S. authorities.
«Misconduct of this sort cannot ever be tolerated, for to do so is to condone, perhaps even to invite, similar conduct,» lawyer Tony Paisana told a judge in Vancouver, adding that the U.S. is «not in charge of policing the world» and that rejecting the extradition was the only way to remedy alleged abuses by authorities.
«Bargaining Chip»
According to lead lawyer Richard Peck, remarks by ex-U.S. president and secretary of state Donald Trump and Mike Pompeo, respectively, indicated Washington was ready to intervene in Meng’s case if it would further foreign policy and trade interests.
«When before has a head of state interfered with an extradition?» Peck said, adding that such remarks had reduced his client Meng to a political «bargaining chip».
Other allegations by the defense about the violation of Meng’s rights include misrepresentation of her case by U.S. authorities to the Canadian government, lack of jurisdiction over the location of her alleged offense in Hong Kong and mishandling of evidence by border officials.
«Greatly Overstate the President’s Words»
In response, Canadian prosecutor Robert Frater said the defense lawyers «greatly overstate the president’s words».
He noted that the only misconduct was improper sharing of Meng’s telephone passcodes between border service officers and the police.
«The [Royal Canadian Mounted Police] were forthright in their testimony and admitted to errors where appropriate,» Frater told the court. «They made reasonable choices about how to proceed in a novel set of circumstances.»
Parallel Verdicts
In China, Canadian citizens Michael Spavor and Robert Lloyd Schellenberg are facing legal sentences which Canadian Ambassador Dominic Barton suggested were linked to Meng’s legal proceedings in Vancouver.
Spavor is expected to receive a verdict in a spy trial while Schellenberg, who was convicted of drug trafficking, had his death sentence upheld.
«I don’t think it’s a coincidence that things are happening right now while events are going on in Vancouver,» Barton told reporters Tuesday in China.
